The Rapid (Interurban Transit Partnership) is the authority that provides a variety of public transportation services for the Grand Rapids metro area and beyond. Serving as The Rapid’s bus garage and maintenance facility, the $31 million Rapid Operations and Maintenance Center includes a dispatch center, employee training space and other features.

The facility is designed to house and maintain The Rapid’s growing fleet of buses and take advantage of advances in technology to maximize operational efficiency and sustainability. Although designed to achieve LEED Silver certification, the Rapid bus system’s Rapid Operations Center was awarded LEED Gold certification, the second LEED certified building for the Interurban Transit Partnership. It also received a 2013 AIA Grand Rapids Honorable Mention Award – a “remarkable design” for public transportation.

The expansion doubled the size of the former operations center and its sustainable features include bus wash-water reclamation, natural light and ventilation systems, radiant floor heating, high-speed garage doors, and a 40,000 sf LiveRoof greenroof.

Also impressive, the project received $10.7 million in federal stimulus money and $17 million in federal transportation funding, yet was projected to cost $32.4 million and came in $1 million under budget.

Installed on May 17, 2011, the Rapid Operations and Maintenance Center was constructed with 32,000 sf of the LiveRoof Standard System and 8,000 sf of LiveRoof RoofStone Pavers. The rooftop also boasts a quarter mile walking track.

See The Rapid Central Station project profile in The Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database – The Rapid’s first LEED certified project and first transportation facility in the U.S. to receive LEED certification in the U.S. The Rapid requires all new construction projects to incorporate sustainable practices and at least LEED certification.